11 in 4

Salzburg-born sculptor Alfred Haberpointner creates wooden sculptures that oscillate between an abstract, geometric form and a figurative image. With his work series spanning over the last two decades, Haberpointner proves how he has innovatively dealt with wooden materials and freed himself from the roots of craft-based, naturalistic wooden sculpture. In his "chopped images," he gives the wooden material an intense presence through systematic, rhythmic sections, which emerge through close observation and exploration of the textured surfaces and result in a dance between light and shadow. He is concerned with form in his works, particularly in the treatment of wood in all possible nuances and shadings. In each of his artworks, one can see the traces of the work process: Haberpointner subjects his reliefs and sculptures to a powerful, mechanical work process that leaves traces on the works. Through beating, chopping, and burning, textures emerge that give the works a relief-like surface, which lacks any mathematical precision and exudes a special aura. Alfred Haberpointner is represented in major art collections, such as the Würth Collection.

Josef Hirthammer has been working as a visual artist for over 40 years. His œuvre is extremely complex and defies categorization. The broad artistic range is reflected in the different design mediums, such as painting, drawing, photography, digital painting, sculpture, and installations. In terms of content, Josef Hirthammer focuses on portraits as well as ecological and philosophical themes, which he approaches through his work series. He is an outspoken nature enthusiast who transforms his encounters with nature into art objects. He is primarily interested in the producing, generating, creative, and active nature, which becomes effective from itself and which in the philosophical tradition has been equated with the source of all finite things. The artist, who lives and works in Fürth, views nature as a macro- and microcosm of its own with a unique aesthetic. This way of thinking provides him with inspiration for his works of art.

Leif Trenker, a graduate of the Städelschule in Frankfurt, is considered an important initiator of the New Figuration movement in Germany. In his works, which oscillate between realism and surrealism, the artist, who lives and works in Cologne, examines the effect of light and shadow on architecture, landscapes, and figures. There is deliberately no clear differentiation between fiction and reality, which becomes evident in the expressive and intentionally overdriven use of color in his pictorial worlds. Thus, through a poetic sense of reverie, he disrupts the ordinary, architectural, or natural space and draws in an exciting, fantastical dimension, where the mere visual quality fascinates and at the same time represents his unique style. His paintings on birch wood are instantaneous moments, where figures are mostly depicted in the foreground. Thematically, his work focuses on childhood memories, street and nature views, and scenes of everyday life and parties.

In Miriam Vlaming's large-scale paintings in egg tempera, the painter breaks down the boundaries between man and nature as well as past and reality. She creates a harmonious symbiosis between these supposed opposites through hazy layers created by the application and removal of paint. In doing so, she allows the depicted figures to emerge from a natural, dreamlike environment. Through this aesthetic, Vlaming opens the viewer's eyes to the multifaceted aspects and philosophical questions of being human, which she addresses in her paintings. Miriam Vlaming always has the overall picture in mind in her mysterious pictorial worlds. She plays with ambiguous metaphors. “Disruptions and contradictions interest me ... the moment after or before something has happened...not the history." Her egg tempera paintings satisfy a deep human need for knowledge. The important member of the New Leipzig School studied at times with Neo Rauch. She was a master’s student under the direction of Arno Rink and is represented in numerous public and private collections.

The relationship between man and nature is the central aspect of Michael Dohr’s work. In his often large-scale works, he addresses the merging of nature and technology. While considering this central theme, he works in an exciting alternation between abstraction and figuration. This is accompanied by deliberately contrasting pictorial elements, which are executed in a photorealistic manner, and non-representational, gesturally applied color sections. Grisaille elements that convey a metallic coolness are accompanied by bold colors and are unmistakably influenced by street art. Between the stencils, paste ups, and graffiti, the viewer can identify brushstrokes that reveal a dynamic application of paint. The paint drips and blots follow the principle of coincidence, and all the pictorial elements together evoke an emotional intensity by referencing the essential intention of street art: the disruption of public order as an indication of injustice.

Constantin Schroeder's figurative paintings are impressive, moving images with a profound sense of depth. His pictorial protagonists are fascinating characters that never let us go. Internalizing the present with all its complexities, he uses a very reduced color palette. Mostly executed in large formats, the scenes captivate the viewer with their characteristic narratives. Schroeder reaches deep into the archive of the human psyche. His works reveal an enigmatic iconography, which includes young heroes posing interpersonal mysteries. The artist, who lives and works in Berlin and studied theology, philosophy, and art history, also illuminates the darker sides of life in an extraordinary, hyper-realistic style. These are powerful images that captivate us with their enigmatic pictorial content. Schroeder leaves some parts of the image white, which allows the viewer to develop his or her own interpretation and understanding of the image through open associations.

The art of the artist Olivier Aubry, who lives and works in Lille, oscillates between the boundaries of painting and drawing. Drawing was always a medium that provided him with a starting point. He describes it as his "daily exercise", which underlines the spontaneous character of his works. Each picture has its own harmoniously balanced color combination. By allowing deeper layers of color to remain visible at the edges of the canvas, an exciting interpretive field of positive and negative space emerges. This gives the drawings the appearance of engravings that have been etched onto the canvas. Oliver Aubry's works create dialogues between linear forms. Because of the ephemerality and complexity of our globalized society, he wants to create a counterbalance and something that lasts. His goal is to crystallize an essence. In order to achieve this, he utilizes a universally comprehensible, almost childlike, anti-perfectionist visual language.

A vast, seemingly infinite plain forms the foundation for the scene: As if from nowhere, people appear on the surface of the image. They emerge from layers rich in nuances of light white or hazy gray, leaving plenty of room for interpretation. The artist Leszek Skurski, who is a native of Poland, repeatedly devotes his paintings to figurative storytelling. In his works, he depicts many stories, that remain open-ended and allow the most diverse interpretations. They are paintings depicting narratives that seem to have paused or stopped in action, and Skurski captures these forms with a narrative density. Many evanescent moments of our existence and interactions are captured on the canvas like excerpts or snapshots between their occurrence and disappearance. Hence, the images of the artist, who lives and works in Fulda, are reminiscent of film stills or still images that outline a content, character, or mood.